Women and the economic field: cooperatives and capital in Turkey

ABSTRACT

This article aims to analytically dissect the interrelated reasons behind the gender gap in wealth accumulation. To do so, it examines how the accumulation of different forms of capital by women in the course of their lives affects women’s prospects in the economic field, thereby shaping women’s potential for wealth accumulation. Focusing on women’s cooperatives in Turkey through a Bourdieusian lens, the article shows that the patriarchal roles assigned to women result in asymmetries of not only economic but also social and cultural capital that lead to structural impediments against women’s endeavors in the economic field. We show, however, that despite these structural impediments, women are not only passive victims of these conditions byt instead develop strategies to cope with these disadvantages and cooperatives play a crucial role in that regard. Finally, through our case study, we demonstrate that both the constraints faced and strategies developed by women are informed by class and occupational background.

KEYWORDS:

• Cooperatives
• feminist economics
• public policy
• social norms
• wealth

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS:

• SDG 5: Gender equality

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Emine Onculer-Yayalar and Selin Akyuz for their contributions to the data collection process on women’s cooperatives in Turkey as well as the editors and anonymous reviewers of the journal. We would also like to express our deepest gratitude to the members of the women’s cooperatives for opening their hearts to us and taking part in our research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2024.2374748.

Notes

1. Following Ruiz Castro and Holvino (2016), we employ the concept of ‘social markers’ in order to leave room for the constructed nature of such markers instead of treating them as preconfigured givens. Also, like those authors, we use ‘intersect’ and ‘intertwine’ interchangeably to show how women’s gendered position is embedded in other social and economic settings.

2. For an extensive discussion of the role of social reproduction duties in the prospects and limits of women’s cooperatives in Turkey, see (Ugur-Cinar et al., 2022).

3. For Bourdieu’s discussion on how girls and women internalize and reproduce hierarchical gender norms, see, for example (Bourdieu, 2001).

4. On the feminist social reproduction literature, see, for example (Arslan, 2022; Bakker, 2020; Bakker & Gill, 2003, 2019; Bhattacharya & Vogel, 2017; Daskalaki et al., 2021; Ugur-Cinar et al., 2022).

5. Kadın Emeğini Destekleme Vakfı (The Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work) is a bridging foundation in Turkey for many women’s associations, including women’s cooperatives.

Additional information

Funding

This research has been supported by the European Union Marie Curie Fellowship [Grant No: 702073], which made the extensive fieldwork presented in our article possible. As always, all responsibility for errors lies with the authors.

Notes on contributors

Meral Ugur-Cinar

Meral Ugur-Cinar is Associate Professor at Bilkent University, Department of Political Science and Public Administration. Her research interests include gender, political regimes, political narratives, collective memory, and populism. Her most recent book is titled ‘Memory, Patriarchy and Economy in Turkey: Narratives of Political Power’(Edinburgh University Press, 2024).

Kursat Cinar

Kursat Cinar is an Associate Professor at Middle East Technical University, Department of Political Science and Public Administration. His research interests center on party politics, democratization, political institutions, development, and gender politics. His works have appeared in journals such as Democratization, Political Studies, Gender, Work & Organization, Social Politics, and Politics & Gender, among others.

Tekin Kose

Tekin Kose is a Research Fellow at University of Aberdeen, Health Economics Research Unit and an Associate Professor at TED University, Department of Economics. His research areas include applied microeconomics, health economics, gender economics, political economy, and applied econometrics. He has published in South European Society & Politics, Social Indicators Research, The Social Science Journal, Applied Economics, PloS One, Health Policy and Technology.